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- While four in five business leaders (83%) believe they demonstrate emotional intelligence well, only half of employees (50%) echo this sentiment with a third citing emotional intelligence (31%) as the topmost skill leaders lack.
- Most business leaders (86%) are confident in their ability to lead effectively and achieve organisational goals, whereas only half of employees (55%) are confident in their leaders' capabilities.
- The majority of business leaders believe that they understand their employees' needs (89%) and meet employees' evolving expectations well (84%). However, less than half of employees feel the same way about their leaders.
- Nonetheless, three in five business leaders (60%) acknowledge gaps in their leadership abilities and have identified areas for improvement, but less than half (44%) have participated in leadership training in the past year, with two in five rarely attending training (39%).
SINGAPORE, May 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Leaders today are expected to thrive in a dynamic and digitally driven workplace, while cultivating human-centric capabilities and competencies. While over four in five business leaders (11% very well, 72% quite well) believe they demonstrate emotional intelligence well, only half of employees believe their leaders possess the skill (2% very well, 48% quite well).
According to employees, emotional intelligence (31%) is in fact the top skill they believe their leaders are lacking, followed by effective communication (30%), and people development (30%).
The majority of business leaders are confident in their ability to lead effectively and achieve organisational goals (13% very confident, 73% quite confident). However, only half of employees are confident in their leaders' capabilities (3% very confident, 52% quite confident).
This disconnect between the two groups is evident in how most business leaders believe they understand their employees' needs (17% very well, 72% quite well) and meet their evolving expectations (11% very well, 73% quite well). Yet, less than half of the employees share the same sentiment, where 46% agree leaders understand their needs "very well" or "quite well", and 45% agree leaders meet their evolving expectations "very well" or "quite well".
These are some of the key findings from NTUC LearningHub's Leadership and Coaching Report, which investigates the essential skills and competencies that future leaders must cultivate, while exploring the critical role of coaching in driving individual and organisational growth across all levels and roles.
Based on a survey involving 150 business leaders and 300 full-time working professionals, the report also examines how organisations can develop and sustain strong leadership pipelines by leveraging people-centric approaches and emotional intelligence to build resilient, high-performing teams.
More than nine in ten business leaders (41% very important, 51% quite important), as well as employees (32% very important, 56% quite important) view emotional intelligence as important in leadership.
Business leaders cite the ability to communicate more effectively (55%), make better decisions (55%), be more flexible and adaptable to changes (53%), build strong relationships with employees (51%), and motivate employees more effectively (50%) as the top reasons why they perceive emotional intelligence as important for leaders. While employees voice similar sentiments, they also highlight the ability to better manage and resolve conflicts (65%) and react to challenges or highly pressurising situations calmly (58%) as other key reasons.
The perception divide also shows up in leadership styles where business leaders are most likely to apply democratic leadership (40%), followed by situational leadership (39%), and laissez-faire leadership (31%). Meanwhile, employees ranked situational leadership (44%) as their most preferred leadership style above democratic leadership (43%) and transformational leadership style (41%).
Consequently, business leaders have to contend with keeping their teams engaged and motivated (38%), managing relationships with employees (35%), and balancing performance with employee well-being (29%) in today's workplace. This is also accompanied by other challenges cited such as developing future leaders (29%) and adapting to change and uncertainty (28%).
Despite the perception divides, three in five business leaders (60%) acknowledge gaps in their leadership abilities and have identified areas for improvement. However, less than half of business leaders (44%) have participated in relevant training to enhance their leadership skills in the past year, with two in five (39%) rarely attending training. Lack of time (48%), high workload (47%), and lack of motivation (31%) are among the top challenges business leaders face when participating in leadership training programmes.
Yet, there is a desire for frequent training, as about two in five business leaders (38%) express a desire for more frequent training to develop their leadership skills. Three in four business leaders (9% very effective, 67% quite effective) also believe that the leadership training they received was effective in developing their abilities.
Commenting on the report's findings, Mr Jeremy Ong, Chief Executive Officer, NTUC LearningHub, says, "The apparent disconnect between leaders and employees highlights an urgent need for leadership to evolve in tandem with workforce expectations. As leadership expectations broaden beyond formal roles, organisations are looking to cultivate a culture where more employees feel empowered to take initiative, make decisions, and contribute to team direction. Technical skills alone are no longer enough today, as a more balanced and human-centric approach towards leadership has become a key competency that will enable leaders to adopt the right leadership approach, connect meaningfully with their team, sustain employee engagement, and ultimately drive organisational success. Therefore, it is important for leaders to continuously improve themselves through learning and development as a strategic imperative to bridge existing skills gaps and nurture future emotionally intelligent and visionary leaders".
To download the Leadership and Coaching Report, please visit www.ntuclearninghub.com/media/research-reports/2025/leadership-coaching. To find out more about the courses, training, and grants, please contact NTUC LearningHub at www.ntuclearninghub.com.
### END ###
About NTUC LearningHub
NTUC LearningHub is the leading Continuing Education and Training provider in Singapore which aims to transform the lifelong employability of working people. Since our corporatisation in 2004, we have been working with employers and individual learners to provide learning solutions in areas such as Infocomm Technology, Generative AI & Cloud, Healthcare, Retail & Food Services, Employability & Literacy, Business Excellence, Workplace Safety & Health, Security, Human Resources & Coaching and Foreign Workers Training.
To date, NTUC LearningHub has helped over 34,000 organisations and achieved more than 3.2 million training places across more than 3,000 courses with a pool of about 1,000 certified trainers. As a Total Learning Solutions provider to organisations, we also forge partnerships to offer a wide range of relevant end-to-end training. Besides in-person training, we also offer instructor-led virtual live classes (VLCs) and asynchronous online learning. The NTUC LearningHub Learning eXperience Platform (LXP) — a one-stop online learning platform — offers timely, bite-sized and quality content for learners to upskill anytime and anywhere. Beyond learning, LXP also serves as a platform for jobs and skills development for both workers and companies.
For more information, visit www.ntuclearninghub.com.
Press Contact
Zulaikha Zulkiflee
Senior Manager, Brand & Communications
Email: zulaikha@ntuclearninghub.com
Steven Lee
Senior Executive, Comms & Event Management
Email: steven.lee@ntuclearninghub.com
- While four in five business leaders (83%) believe they demonstrate emotional intelligence well, only half of employees (50%) echo this sentiment with a third citing emotional intelligence (31%) as the topmost skill leaders lack.
- Most business leaders (86%) are confident in their ability to lead effectively and achieve organisational goals, whereas only half of employees (55%) are confident in their leaders' capabilities.
- The majority of business leaders believe that they understand their employees' needs (89%) and meet employees' evolving expectations well (84%). However, less than half of employees feel the same way about their leaders.
- Nonetheless, three in five business leaders (60%) acknowledge gaps in their leadership abilities and have identified areas for improvement, but less than half (44%) have participated in leadership training in the past year, with two in five rarely attending training (39%).
SINGAPORE, May 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Leaders today are expected to thrive in a dynamic and digitally driven workplace, while cultivating human-centric capabilities and competencies. While over four in five business leaders (11% very well, 72% quite well) believe they demonstrate emotional intelligence well, only half of employees believe their leaders possess the skill (2% very well, 48% quite well).
According to employees, emotional intelligence (31%) is in fact the top skill they believe their leaders are lacking, followed by effective communication (30%), and people development (30%).
The majority of business leaders are confident in their ability to lead effectively and achieve organisational goals (13% very confident, 73% quite confident). However, only half of employees are confident in their leaders' capabilities (3% very confident, 52% quite confident).
This disconnect between the two groups is evident in how most business leaders believe they understand their employees' needs (17% very well, 72% quite well) and meet their evolving expectations (11% very well, 73% quite well). Yet, less than half of the employees share the same sentiment, where 46% agree leaders understand their needs "very well" or "quite well", and 45% agree leaders meet their evolving expectations "very well" or "quite well".
These are some of the key findings from NTUC LearningHub's Leadership and Coaching Report, which investigates the essential skills and competencies that future leaders must cultivate, while exploring the critical role of coaching in driving individual and organisational growth across all levels and roles.
Based on a survey involving 150 business leaders and 300 full-time working professionals, the report also examines how organisations can develop and sustain strong leadership pipelines by leveraging people-centric approaches and emotional intelligence to build resilient, high-performing teams.
More than nine in ten business leaders (41% very important, 51% quite important), as well as employees (32% very important, 56% quite important) view emotional intelligence as important in leadership.
Business leaders cite the ability to communicate more effectively (55%), make better decisions (55%), be more flexible and adaptable to changes (53%), build strong relationships with employees (51%), and motivate employees more effectively (50%) as the top reasons why they perceive emotional intelligence as important for leaders. While employees voice similar sentiments, they also highlight the ability to better manage and resolve conflicts (65%) and react to challenges or highly pressurising situations calmly (58%) as other key reasons.
The perception divide also shows up in leadership styles where business leaders are most likely to apply democratic leadership (40%), followed by situational leadership (39%), and laissez-faire leadership (31%). Meanwhile, employees ranked situational leadership (44%) as their most preferred leadership style above democratic leadership (43%) and transformational leadership style (41%).
Consequently, business leaders have to contend with keeping their teams engaged and motivated (38%), managing relationships with employees (35%), and balancing performance with employee well-being (29%) in today's workplace. This is also accompanied by other challenges cited such as developing future leaders (29%) and adapting to change and uncertainty (28%).
Despite the perception divides, three in five business leaders (60%) acknowledge gaps in their leadership abilities and have identified areas for improvement. However, less than half of business leaders (44%) have participated in relevant training to enhance their leadership skills in the past year, with two in five (39%) rarely attending training. Lack of time (48%), high workload (47%), and lack of motivation (31%) are among the top challenges business leaders face when participating in leadership training programmes.
Yet, there is a desire for frequent training, as about two in five business leaders (38%) express a desire for more frequent training to develop their leadership skills. Three in four business leaders (9% very effective, 67% quite effective) also believe that the leadership training they received was effective in developing their abilities.
Commenting on the report's findings, Mr Jeremy Ong, Chief Executive Officer, NTUC LearningHub, says, "The apparent disconnect between leaders and employees highlights an urgent need for leadership to evolve in tandem with workforce expectations. As leadership expectations broaden beyond formal roles, organisations are looking to cultivate a culture where more employees feel empowered to take initiative, make decisions, and contribute to team direction. Technical skills alone are no longer enough today, as a more balanced and human-centric approach towards leadership has become a key competency that will enable leaders to adopt the right leadership approach, connect meaningfully with their team, sustain employee engagement, and ultimately drive organisational success. Therefore, it is important for leaders to continuously improve themselves through learning and development as a strategic imperative to bridge existing skills gaps and nurture future emotionally intelligent and visionary leaders".
To download the Leadership and Coaching Report, please visit www.ntuclearninghub.com/media/research-reports/2025/leadership-coaching. To find out more about the courses, training, and grants, please contact NTUC LearningHub at www.ntuclearninghub.com.
### END ###
About NTUC LearningHub
NTUC LearningHub is the leading Continuing Education and Training provider in Singapore which aims to transform the lifelong employability of working people. Since our corporatisation in 2004, we have been working with employers and individual learners to provide learning solutions in areas such as Infocomm Technology, Generative AI & Cloud, Healthcare, Retail & Food Services, Employability & Literacy, Business Excellence, Workplace Safety & Health, Security, Human Resources & Coaching and Foreign Workers Training.
To date, NTUC LearningHub has helped over 34,000 organisations and achieved more than 3.2 million training places across more than 3,000 courses with a pool of about 1,000 certified trainers. As a Total Learning Solutions provider to organisations, we also forge partnerships to offer a wide range of relevant end-to-end training. Besides in-person training, we also offer instructor-led virtual live classes (VLCs) and asynchronous online learning. The NTUC LearningHub Learning eXperience Platform (LXP) — a one-stop online learning platform — offers timely, bite-sized and quality content for learners to upskill anytime and anywhere. Beyond learning, LXP also serves as a platform for jobs and skills development for both workers and companies.
For more information, visit www.ntuclearninghub.com.
Press Contact
Zulaikha Zulkiflee
Senior Manager, Brand & Communications
Email: zulaikha@ntuclearninghub.com
Steven Lee
Senior Executive, Comms & Event Management
Email: steven.lee@ntuclearninghub.com
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
Employees cite 'emotional intelligence' as key leadership gap, highlighting disconnect at the top
Limited-edition designs of Bellroy's lightweight, everyday bags and pouches from the Cinch range.
MELBOURNE, Australia, Jan. 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Bellroy released new limited-edition products to their Cinch collection in celebration of the Year of the Horse, with colors, silhouettes and hidden messages representing calm and relaxation. The custom designs capture the symbolism of the new year with an injection of modernity, with crimson to represent lucky red, seafoam green as a nod to spring, and hidden messages of rest and readiness, unique to each style. These limited-edition products are available now at bellroy.com and at select retailers.
Products:
- Cinch Backpack – Year of the Horse Edition
- Cinch Mini Messenger – Year of the Horse Edition
- Cinch Pocket – Year of the Horse Edition
- Cinch Pouch – Year of the Horse Edition
- New Year Horse Charm
- New Year Owl Charm
Bellroy is also offering customers the New Year Horse Charm and New Year Owl Charm as gifts with the purchase of the Cinch Backpack – Year of the Horse Edition or Mini Messenger – Year of the Horse Edition (while stocks last). The horse charm, molded from clay and developed through 3D printing, features two snuggling horses sitting on a diamond-style knot that loosely resembles a traditional Chinese knot. Bellroy Designer Rowan Dinning says, "For Year of the Horse, we didn't want to signal a hustle culture, like the cliché, prancing pony. We focused more on being in connection with family and that sense of community when putting together the capsule."
This capsule is a modern take on a year that is often tied to speed, ambition and momentum. Bellroy reframes the story: rest and prepare, then move with purpose. "The idea was inspired by the phonetic similarity between 'Cinch' and the Chinese word '松弛' (sōngchí), which means relaxed, chilled or loosened. The design language of the Cinch family – playful structure, soft and lightweight materials – further reinforces this 'chilled' feeling," says Bellroy BD Project Manager Fiona Fang.
Cinch Backpack – Year of the Horse Edition
Cinch Mini Messenger – Year of the Horse Edition
Cinch Pocket – Year of the Horse Edition
Cinch Pouch – Year of the Horse Edition
New Year Horse Charm and New Year Owl Charm
- RRP US$35 each.
- Available as a free gift with eligible purchases.
Now available at bellroy.com and selected retailers.
Product images available here.
Apple-exclusive collection
In addition to the collection available on bellroy.com, Bellroy has collaborated with Chinese paper artist Chen Fenwan to create a Year of the Horse Collection made exclusively for Apple – comprising the Laptop Caddy, Travel Organizer and Cinch Messenger. Each limited-edition product includes an exclusive patterned lining designed by the artist.
Laptop Caddy 14" – Special Edition
Travel Organizer – Special Edition
Cinch Messenger – Special Edition
Now available at apple.com and in select stores.
Product images available here.
About Bellroy
Bellroy is an Australian certified B-Corp revolutionizing everyday carry since 2010. The design-obsessed brand creates wallets, bags, and tech accessories that solve real problems through sustainable materials and meticulous engineering. With products sold in 100+ countries, Bellroy demonstrates that business can be a force for good without compromising on quality or design.
Social Media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bellroy
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bellroy_official
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bellroy.official|
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@bellroy_official
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/bellroy
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
Bellroy Releases Year of the Horse Capsule Collection
